(Video quality not good when compressed heavily due to very complex scenes, so full 1080p video at archive.org)

On the 23ed of March, Tampa Pride’s parade took to the streets. The “ROTC” drill team with flags put on a very good performance. The name is appropriate considering the ugly times we live in and the dire threat posed by the probable results of the 2024 election and/or a Trump coup.

There is always a sour note at any parade and this was no exception. At least the cops and Mayor Jane Castor (a notorious supporter of Israeli business interests in Tampa) were soon out of the way after going first, right after the lead contingent. Also, anti-LGBTQ dog whistler Chris Nelson’s self-hating “Gays against Groomers” had their propaganda truck parked on 15th st about two blocks from the parade route. They were parked in a no-parking zone, complaints about the illegally parked truck were ignored. There was a rainbow tow truck in the parade, which would have been perfect for towing this truck to the junkyard.

While “Gays against Groomers” apparently attempted to put their stickers up on the parade route, only one was seen by the author of this report, it was quickly removed.

This was a full-featured Pride parade with a big crowd. Many parade contingents (known as Krewes like in New Orleans) featured mock pirate ships in reference to Tampa Bay’s well-known past as a haven of pirates and buccaneers. Buccaneers raided the huge galleons of the Spanish Main. These ships were loaded with gold and valuable stolen from the Indigenous population in this hemispere. The colonists (knownm as Gauchupines or “spur-wearers”) relied on slave labor to mine this gold, setting an ugly pattern that continues today with multinational mining corporations preying on nations of the Global South. Like Yemen fighting for Palestine today, the buccaneers opposing them exacted an economic price from those responsible for colonialism and genocide. Pirate ships were normally run as democracies, with the captain having no power except in battle and no special privilige except a double share of the loot.